Sindhurakshak: 6 bodies handed over to Navy

Six of the 11 bodies extricated from the INS Sindhurakshak — a kilo class submarine that sank at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai after two blasts ripped through it on August 13 — have been handed over to Naval officials.

The bodies had been kept at morgue at Byculla’s JJ Hospital, for DNA identification.

Last week, four more bodies recovered from the submarine and sent to JJ Hospital’s forensic department for autopsy. “All the bodies were severely burnt. In some, only the bones remained,” said a doctor from the hospital.

Doctors at the hospital’s forensic department have collected tooth and bone samples that have been sent to the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory for DNA identification. The five bodies that remain at the hospital will be handed over to the Navy after the DNA identification is completed.

“We received the last body on Sunday,” said Dr TP Lahane, dean JJ Hospital. A navy spokesperson said the bodies will be sent to the deceased’s families.